Books - Fiction
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7 Catholic Fiction Books For 7 – 12 Year Olds
Our home bulges with literally thousands of books, many of which have been gifted from my homeschooling mother’s collection and many from local book sales in which children’s books are free! We are extremely blessed to own many treasures but the one genre we’ve had to consciously seek out and purchase books for is, Catholic Fiction.  Whilst we’ve plenty of saints and spiritual books, novels written by Catholic authors in which our Catholic Faith is seamlessly interwoven are few. Filling this gap has been a challenge as the prices are high and finding Catholic authors is difficult. Over several years we have slowly built our collection, gifting our children with Catholic…
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Books Read Aloud – June & July, 2016
I’ve only a few read aloud books to share for the past two months, partly because we took a break from reading over the school holidays and partly our list is incomplete due to patchy record keeping. As always we have a two/three books being simultaneously read due to our children’s wide age spread, though there were a few ‘cross over’ of different children sharing in with siblings read alouds the past couple of months. Sharing not only the books we enjoyed but the ones we abandoned as I know I find it useful to hear the ‘full story’ myself. Youngest: 5, 7 & 10 Years Folk of the Faraway…
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Books Read Aloud – January Thru May, 2016
Each month I have intentions of writing and sharing scintillating reviews of the books I’ve read that month, the embarrassing truth though is, the sheer amount of books I devour is daunting so I abandon my post midway and return to reading. Perhaps I should adopt Modern Mrs Darcy’s approach and share, “three books I love, one I hate.” ‘Diving in’ by sharing some of the books I’ve been reading aloud with our children, certain we’ve read more but my record keeping has been patchy. We have a number of books being simultaneously read from our two/three reading baskets due to our children’s wide age spread, whilst there is much ‘cross over’ of listening with…
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Catholic Fiction For Young Adults
I’m always searching for quality literature and always excited to discover any Catholic fiction novels. Over the last month I’ve had the opportunity to read three Catholic novels particularly appealing to young ladies and loved all three! Which is impressive odds, as I read alot I can be a tough sell, rarely does a book get a 4 star from me. Erin’s Ring – Laura Pearl Erin’s Ring is an historical novel that ‘toggles’ between today and the yesterday of the 19th Century when so many Irish immigrated to America. Â A young Catholic teen finds an inscribed Irish Claddagh ring half buried outside her Church one Sunday morning. Â Thus begins…
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Finding Grace
Finding Grace – Laura Pearl Last year I was delighted when I won a copy of Finding Grace written by my friend Laura. Most excitedly it arrived just in time to be tucked into my hospital bag along with the Tim Tams (chocolate coated biscuits). As all mummas know, essentials for a stay in the maternity ward include chocolate and a brand new book to savour, for those moments when your newborn is asleep and you are slowly going mad looking at the walls of the maternity ward. Finding Grace will always be part of my memories of Bella’s birth, as in the 20 hours between Bella’s birth and when we booked…
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Restoration Novels – Christian Suspense
Occasionally I find a Christian author whose writing style appeals and I settle in to enjoy some Christian fiction, generally romance or suspense. Terri Blackstock’s Restoration Novels are Christian suspense and very engaging. Imagine if tomorrow a supernova sends out pulses that interrupts any and all electromagnetic energy here on earth. There would be chaos, nothing would work that we rely on today in our technological world. Cars couldn’t run, planes couldn’t fly, watches wouldn’t work, nor phones, generators, sewage systems, eftpos machines etc, nor could goods be replenished. Hospitals would have no life saving machines functioning, emergency services couldn’t function and police hard to contact. Banking systems would collapse etc…
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Two Best Sellers
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak In 1939, Nazi Germany, Liesel is a foster girl living in Munich. She loves her accordion playing foster father, she helps her foster parents hide a Jewish man in their basement, and she steals books. Written for young adults this book has everybody talking, it was with interest I picked up my copy to read. I really struggled to ‘get into’ this novel. Reading all the reviews I note with interest The Book Thief provokes two emotions, you either love it or hate it, I’m afraid I fall into the second category. A few reasons that I found totally distracting, The Narrator of the…
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British Mystery Series – Roaring Twenties
I’m a huge fan of mysteries, an interest that began as a child reading Trixie Belden, Three Investigators and Enid Blyton. Years on I discovered Agatha Christie and Father Brown, once I’d read all those titles the hunt has continued for other authors. Over the years I’ve discovered some real gems (and some real duds), sharing some gems with you. Lately I’ve discovered and am enjoying a few series set just after World War 1. In all three series the protagonist is a female investigator, in a time when roles for women were changing, a period of huge social change though it was still to take many battles before…
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Fantasy Books for Boys
Fantasy titles today abound on the shelves of bookstores and libraries. As parents who endeavour to guide and help our readers learn discernment and with a child who has loved fantasy since he first read LOTR aged 10, we have journeyed down an unknown road, at times taking unexpected turns. Writing this post has been challenging as fantasy discernment is rather subjective for each family. I have endeavoured to disclose to the best of my ability areas that may arouse concern. I sincerely hope this post may aid you in finding new titles for your child/ren and in your decision as to whether it fits with your familiy’s comfort level. Sites/books to help…
